Rural Press Club (RPC) Queensland Luncheon Address

"The Road Ahead for Queensland Farmers" and Presentation of Excellence In Rural Journalism Awards for 2010

Patron: Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland (RNA)

Royal Agricultural Society of Queensland

Queensland Country Women's Association (QCWA)

AgForce "Every Family Needs a Farmer" Campaign

Queensland Merino Stud Sheepbreeder's Association

Royal Queensland Bush Children's Health Scheme

Madam President, Ms Genevieve McAulay,

Vice President, Ms Lisa Palu,

Treasurer, Mr Brad Weatherston,

Secretary, Ms Margie Millgate,

 RPC Committee Members,

 RPC Life Members, Members and guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Thank you for the invitation to join you today.

I have been looking forward to this occasion and the opportunity it provides for me to meet more of your members and to gain a better appreciation of the role that the Rural Press Club plays in our State and beyond, in raising awareness of issues affecting agriculture, agribusiness and our primary industries.  Although we operate in different spheres and in very different ways - you as journalists, in the thick of politics and policy debate, working energetically to articulate and to influence opinions and attitudes - of the public and of our political leaders and decision makers - and I, as Governor, occupying a non-partisan position which carries the obligation to remain above politics; nevertheless there are similarities, and very definitely shared interests.

The similarities, as I see them, lie firstly in the outreach, interaction and engagement with the community, which is an essential feature of your work and of mine, as I travel throughout the State carrying out my constitutional and ceremonial duties and fulfilling my civic roles and responsibilities; connecting with so many different community groups and organisations and thus gaining an overview and an increasingly informed perspective of developments in our State across virtually every sector and area of activity.

The second similarity lies in the opportunities we both have for advocacy and awareness raising.  Yours, clearly, is more immediate and obvious ... highly visible at all times to the public, through TV, radio, print media and the internet - mine less so, but nonetheless steadily pursued, as I respond to hundreds of requests and invitations from one end of the State to the other: to attend or host events, open and speak at State, national and international conferences, to visit communities, including communities affected by floods, droughts or other emergencies, to lend my support to particular causes or campaigns, to be Patron of organisations (170 at last count), to  receive delegations, present awards, confer honours, promote and recognise  achievements, open shows and exhibitions and mark special anniversaries.  The list is as large and diverse as our Queensland State and society, and creates for whoever occupies the position of Governor an exceptional platform for advocacy - as well as, I firmly believe, a corresponding responsibility to use this platform and the opportunity it presents to maximum effect and benefit for Queensland and Queenslanders, within Queensland and beyond.  The ‘beyond' is very important, and I will pursue the point in a moment, as I address the subject you set for me of "The Road Ahead for Queensland Farmers".

But before doing so - or rather as a lead-in to that, let me return to my reference to our having "shared interests".

That shared interest is the desire to raise awareness of the importance of our primary industries, to raise the profile of agribusiness, to promote Queensland agriculture, its contribution now and its potential for the future, to increase understanding of the contemporary realities of farming, to champion not only our farmers and the communities that support them, but to turn the spotlight on every aspect of the agricultural sector and the factors - both negative and positive - influencing and affecting its growth and development.

When I became Governor, I needed no convincing of the importance of agriculture and farming for Australia or Queensland.  My personal and family links to the land here in Queensland and a career spent promoting and defending Australia's foreign and trade policy interests overseas, in many different countries and international negotiations, has given me a keen awareness of the sector and its significance; of our assets, capabilities and strengths, of our vulnerabilities and of the risks and challenges presented by various factors, both internal and external.  As Australia's Ambassador for the Environment, I worked closely with rural stakeholders and peak bodies like the NFF, community organisations like Landcare and many others as we negotiated the landmark international Conventions on Climate Change, Biodiversity, Drought and Desertification.  And in bilateral posts overseas - France, New Zealand, India, Mexico, Algeria, Hong Kong - and positions at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Canberra, handling Australia's relations with our major trading partners - Japan, China and Korea -  I was part of a sustained effort pursued by Australian bureaucrats and diplomats worldwide to lobby for better market access for our products, to break down protectionism, to counter misunderstanding and misinformation about things like kangaroo culling and mulesing, to explain and convince critics that Australia's strict quarantine regulations are necessary and not a form of protectionism and to assist Australian producers and exporters trying to develop new markets or position themselves more effectively to counter competition. 

Working on global issues, dealing with the totality of Australian interests, Queensland was only one part of my frame of reference and promotional activities, but of course now fills the screen.  As Governor, I have become a proud Ambassador for Queensland.  And within that Queensland-centric frame, although there are many priorities and areas demanding my attention, agriculture has steadily claimed more of my time and interest over the past 18 months, stimulated by my travels through regional Queensland, my contacts with farmers and rural producers and my role as Patron of numerous organisations with deep and direct connections to rural Queensland (the RNA, QCWA, the AgForce ‘Every Family Needs A Farmer' campaign, the Royal Queensland Bush Children's Health Scheme, to name some) and of many others whose links are less direct, but whose work is of significance for people working the land.  Attending and speaking at State conferences on Local Government, Suicide Prevention, for Rural Women, the Isolated Children's Parents' Association and opening new Landcare offices and cattle sales has also added greatly to my understanding of what is happening in rural and regional Queensland and of the issues preoccupying our farmers and primary producers, their communities and those who seek to support them.

The ‘big' issues are evident to everyone:

• Climate change;
• Water and water management;
• The so-called conflict between mining and farming, linked to the debates over land use and access, definitions of ‘best quality land' and whether this should be off-limits for mining and preserved exclusively for farming;
• The provision of services to rural Queensland, including, most obviously, education and health services, but covering also infrastructure, transport and communication systems.

These are all very much ‘live' policy issues; the subject of intense political debate at present, both nationally - most obviously in the case of climate change and discussion of an ETS - and at the State level, over urban planning and land use.

And some of them, of course, involve Federal Government responsibilities and policy discussions that are ongoing between the States and the central government.  So they are not issues where it is appropriate for me to voice my views, other than in the broadest of terms, lest I breach the conventions that attach to the Office of the Governor.

However, there are a number of areas where I believe it is useful and appropriate for me to speak out and where I have indeed already been doing so; and others where I have some concerns that I am happy to identify, as we look at this question of the road ahead - of the future for Queensland farmers.

The first is the issue of knowledge and awareness in the wider community of the value and significance of our primary industries for the economy and as a vital contributor to Queensland's - and, indeed, Australia's - prosperity now and in the future.  Despite the best efforts of many committed people and organisations, including the rural press, there is insufficient understanding and appreciation either of the significance or the sophistication of the sector, of the way agricultural production in this country and our State has grown and evolved; of the way farmers have adapted to meet challenges.  And beyond this, in some areas, there are distorted - even negative perceptions - which need to be countered; gaps in understanding that need to be bridged, between the city and the bush, town and country.  So the road ahead for Queensland farmers will certainly involve ongoing promotional and educational campaigns and strategies to close this gap - campaigns like ‘Every Family Needs a Farmer'.  And I am absolutely committed to lending my voice and support to this effort.

The second is the issue of research and development - something I consider to be of the utmost importance and where I am concerned that things are slipping in the agricultural sector.  As a bureaucrat and particularly while negotiating those big international environmental treaties, I developed profound respect for Australian scientists and a strong conviction that good policy must - can only be - based on sound science, and an equally strong belief that Australia has great strengths in this area that we can use not only to defend Australian interests, but for global benefit.

Over the past decades, scientific and technological advances, research and development, notably productivity based R and D, has kept Australian farmers in business and has been vital in developing new higher yielding and drought-resistant crop varieties, achieving water-use efficiencies, in adopting conservation tillage techniques to protect soil structure and maximise water retention and enabling a host of other gains and adaptations - clever adaptations.  For Queensland farmers to be able to travel the road ahead, to meet the challenges - whether of climate change, environmental regulation and the demand for even better quality, cleaner and greener products - we must maintain a strong commitment to R and D; and yet, as I explore this issue and consult others more knowledgeable than I, I find funding for this, worryingly, is dropping, both at the State and Federal Government level.

I have learned, for example, that Australia's research intensity spending in agriculture (its R and D spend as a portion of the Gross Value of Agricultural Production) has been wound down to the level it was in 1970.  That it dropped from a peak of 5.1% in 1978 to just 2.9% in 2005.  I couldn't find more recent figures, but I know that it continues to drop;  and I see, feel and hear of anxiety in the farming and scientific community about these falls, about the petering out of the ‘green revolution' benefits that contributed to rapid yield increases in the 1960's and 1970's and about a dramatic decline in yield growth rates.

I recognise, of course, that we have to be realistic about the pressures on budgets everywhere and that difficult choices have to be made, by industry, the State Government and the Federal Government about where to commit resources, but I would suggest that investment in scientific research, in agricultural R and D, should be given higher priority as we plan for the future; and that planning needs to weigh not only the costs of committing resources, but the risks and benefits involved in not doing so - including the risk of Australia's global competitive edge slipping into decline and being lost.  I am persuaded by arguments advanced by the National Farmers Federation that the benefits and spillover gains from this would extend well beyond helping to secure the future of our farmers: that they would flow through to consumers, supply chain participants and to the wider community, through improved biodiversity, reduced soil erosion, fewer diseases and water-saving efficiencies.  I also found very compelling the information in a study released by the Rural Research and Development Corporation in December 2008, measuring economic, environmental and social returns from rural R and D, that showed a return on investment from a sample of projects yielded an $11 average return for every dollar spent.  So, not only do efficiency gains made through R and D underpin adoption of new technologies and farm practices that make us international leaders, that keep us competitive: they pay for themselves 11 times over.

But I suspect that many in this audience today will know this and that I am preaching to the converted, so let me finally now address quickly two other things I see as important as I consider the road ahead for Queensland farmers - one quite local, the other ‘big-picture'.

The former is my concern that we need to do more in the area of what I will term ‘the agricultural education sector' - to promote and support our agricultural colleges, institutions and universities and to attract more young Queenslanders to choose Ag. Science and related fields as study and career options.  I know that here, too, the numbers are dropping.  I have encountered concern about this in many quarters, and without elaborating further - as I don't wish to transgress the 30 minute limit set for my address - I do see this as linked to the issue of raising awareness and educating the community about the value and the opportunities our primary industries represent.  Of course, there are ups and downs and risks with farming - whether it is climate, commodity prices or new legislative requirements - the cycles of "feast and famine" have always been a reality for Australian farmers, but there are also great rewards and opportunities - and not just when it rains!  Instead of recounting the ‘hard luck' stories, we need to talk more about the ‘good news' ones, the successes, the ‘wins', the satisfactions to be gained from farming; to persuade young people to stay on or return to the family farm, to the land, to live and work in those rural communities and to see the road ahead for farming and farmers as a road of opportunity

And that brings me to my final, ‘big picture' comment, where it is important that we look ‘beyond' our State and national boundaries and preoccupations and consider the extraordinary opportunity we have as a country - and especially here in Queensland - to play a role and to reap the benefit of global change and developments in relation to agriculture.  There are some global developments, understandably, that worry our farmers - protectionism, trade barriers, new legislation in major markets, issues like ‘food miles' - but there are other changes happening or in prospect that create extraordinary opportunities for us.  Food security - always an issue in some regions - will become an even greater global preoccupation as the world's population continues to grow, in parallel with environmental and sustainability considerations and factors also moving inexorably up the global agenda.  

And where does Australia - and Queensland - sit as this happens? 

Geographically, magically-positioned, in the Pacific rim, cheek by jowl with huge markets which are not only growing but changing rapidly, with emerging middle classes in countries like India, China and Indonesia acquiring new purchasing power; developing new tastes, new standards and new demands for quality food products -demand we can help satisfy.  Technologically we are well positioned with sophisticated capability and capacity to adapt and ‘move with the times' (provided we commit more funding to R and D).

Image-wise, we are also relatively well positioned, generally recognised internationally as highly efficient, innovative producers, producing high quality products and with a ‘clean, green' image (although here there is considerable competition and a need, I believe, to commit more effort to burnishing our image and promoting our credentials).

Overall, in competitive terms, we still have an edge, a comparative advantage in many areas - all reasons to consider the road ahead for our farmers a promising, inviting one.

But if, as a State and a country we are to travel that road and realise its promise, we will have to work hard - harder - to keep that edge: to maintain and enhance our image, to stay competitive, to help our farmers adapt and compete, to maintain the place of agriculture in the Queensland economy as the State's second most important export earner, to make the right decisions about infrastructure, strike the right balance in decisions about land use and access, and much more.

Ladies and Gentlemen, in a half-hour address, I could not begin to do justice to this vast and absorbing subject.  I have elected to highlight three areas where I believe more needs to be done to support our farmers and agriculture; areas less controversial and headline grabbing than others at this time, but ones that I consider crucially important, where a greater, more strategic investment of resources and effort is needed for the long term, to secure the future: education, research and development, and over-arching them all, awareness-raising and promotion of the importance, the strengths and the capabilities of our farming sector and of the opportunities that exist for agriculture in Queensland - an area where, as Governor, I will continue to lend my voice and support wherever possible.  I trust I have also left you persuaded of my belief that the road ahead for Queensland farmers is a promising one and that there will be enormous opportunities in the future for Queensland farmers - opportunities that we should be working with enthusiasm and determination to seize, to the benefit of Queensland, of Australia and of the global community - and you may be assured that here, too, I shall be doing all possible to persuade others to this optimistic and ambitious view.

Thank you.